The feds has no rights to seize a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco after it accepted $150,000 from the owners in lieu of the property, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The owners of a Mission Street property, accusing of allowing tenant, ShambhalaHealingCenter, to sell marijuana within 1,000 feet of a public playground, agreed to pay $150,000 or forfeit their interest in the property in 2014.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled Monday that once the money was paid the government lost its rights to seize the dispensary.
She sided with Shambhala that the federal court no longer has jurisdiction, that landlords Ebrahi and Valentin Poura paid money that was substituted for the property in the forfeiture and thus the court no longer has jurisdiction.
The government argued the Poura’s must do more than pay money. They must complete the remaining terms of the settlement agreement.
Illston ordered the government to release its hold on the property by December 19 and ordered the Pouras’ to produce the records related to rental agreements for the dispensary’s rental payments as the government requested by the same date.
Case: U.S. v. $150,000 res in lieu, No. 13-cv-2062SI
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